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Wednesday, 23 January 2013

GAW KADAL MASSACRE “JANUARY 19, 1990

GAW
KADAL MASSACRE “JANUARY 19, 1990″ IN ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED STATE OF JAMMU
AND KASHMIR ALSO KNOWN AS INTERNATIONALLY DISPUTED AREAS OF JAMMU AND
KASHMIR (IDA:JK)

Gaw Kadal Massacre “January 19, 1990″

By: Ehsaan Qazi

Jagmohan
was appointed on January 19, 1990. That night, in response to the
kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed and other militant attacks, Indian security
forces conducted warrantless and thus illegal house-to-house searches
in Srinagar, hunting for illegal weapons or other evidence of support to
the militants. They dragged many people out of their beds into the
bitter cold. Many Kashmiris complained that they were beaten and
abused.Jagmohan maintains that he had nothing to do with the decision.

The next morning, as word of the searches and
beatings began to spread, people began to pour out into the streets of
Srinagar. From the mosques, loudspeakers urged Kashmiris to come out and
fight for azaadi, or freedom. Thousands of Kashmiris gathered to
protest the actions of the security forces.

The state government declared a curfew, but
few if any Kashmiris observed it.It was early evening when one group of
marchers reached the Gaw Kadal Bridge on Srinagar’s Jhelum River. They
were shouting slogans and some were pelting the soldiers with stones.
Troops from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) opened fire into the
crowd. Eyewitnesses say the shooting was a brutal and excessive use of
lethal force against demonstrators. Many demonstrators were shot from
behind as they turned to run away. Kashmiri news photographer
Meraj-ud-din described the scene:

“When I reached Gaw Kadal, all I could see
were the dead. I saw bodies of children, bodies of women, bodies of
men…. Later they brought the bodies to the police compound. I saw them
again. There I cried. I shouted, screamed. ‘Don’t do this to the
people.’ That day I saw everything.”

Human Rights Watch, in its 1991 report on the
shootings, criticized the killings and concluded that the use of lethal
force was not proportional to the threat.

At
least thirty-five people died. Many estimates put the toll near one
hundred. Until then, this was the highest number of persons killed on a
single day since the violence erupted in Jammu and Kashmir.The killings
drew international attention. The London based daily,the Independent,
carried an interview with one of the survivors, a thirty-eight-year-old
mechanical engineer called Farooq Ahmad, who worked for the government:

“I was just standing watching the procession
of Muslims demonstrating against India. It was curfew time and there
were CRPF on both sides of the lane. They should have given a warning,
telling people to go back to their rooms. But there was no warning, so
people thought the procession was allowed. Then there were two shots in
the air, and more shots, shots and shots – people were falling down. I
also fell down. Someone pushed me down. The CRPF took control of the
area. There were a lot of dead and injured. But I was safe, no bullet.
Then came somebody, they said I was still alive, and that fellow, an
officer, came with a Bren gun, a light machine gun. He aimed at me and
started firing.”

Farooq Ahmad survived. But few in Jammu and
Kashmir have forgotten that incident. Human Rights Watch recently met
with an eyewitness who recalled the events at Gaw Kadal.

“I
remember that scene perfectly. There were so many people. I remember
thinking that all of Srinagar must be out on the streets. They were
shouting slogans and calling for freedom. There was a CRPF bunker just
near the bridge. Suddenly the soldiers opened fire. It was machine-gun
fire and all I could hear is the rat-a-tat sound. At that time, we were
not used to the sound of firing like we are today. I think everyone was
shocked. No one had expected the troops to start firing. Soon, there
were people falling down all over the place. I remember the man standing
next to me saying, ‘I know I have been shot but I can’t feel anything.’
I looked at him. And then I saw his foot. There was a bullet stuck
inside his shoe… All around people were groaning with pain. Everyone
that could ran away. I stayed where I was in case they fired at me. I
stood there for many hours. Finally, the police brought trucks and
started taking the dead and wounded away. But they had been lying there
for many hours before the trucks came. I remember that there were dogs
sniffing at the bodies. I will never forget one sight. I saw a dog
eating a human arm.”

The shooting at Gaw Kadal Bridge and
the way the Indian government responded may have been the turning point
in the rebellion. As Human Rights Watch said in a May 1991 report, “In
the weeks that followed as security forces fired on crowds of marchers
and as militants intensified their attacks against the police and those
suspected of aiding them, Kashmir’s civil war began in earnest”.Almost
every day there were protests. Teachers, students, and government
employees came out into the streets shouting slogans. At the same time,
there were increased attacks from militants, now with a religious
dimension. Hindu Kashmiris, called pandits, came under attack. Many were
abducted or killed. Many received anonymous notes that were threatening
and abusive.Thousands of pandits began to flee the Muslim-majority
Kashmir valley, relocating to squalid camps in Jammu and Delhi. At least
three hundred thousand Kashmiri Hindus still remain displaced.

The state administration, led by Jagmohan,
sought to end the militancy and the mass protests through the increased
use of force. Government forces fired live ammunition on crowds of
unarmed demonstrators. Round-the-clock curfews were imposed for days in
major towns to prevent protests.Paramilitary troops conducted
large-scale searches, called “crackdowns” in Jammu and Kashmir.
Residents were forced to gather outside while troops ransacked their
belongings, looking for hidden weapons. Informers, in hoods, identified
alleged militants to be taken into custody, who were then often tortured
and sometimes killed.

No known action was taken against any CRPF
officials who ordered their forces to open fire at Gaw Kadal, or against
the officers present during the shooting. No public inquiry was ordered
into the incident. The police did file complaints against demonstrators
who pelted stones at security forces, but they were not investigated.
Without an investigation into what exactly happened in Gaw Kadal, there
will be no chance of holding those responsible accountable.

The consequences of Gawkadal and the failure
to hold the security forces accountable have been far reaching. Many
young Kashmiris began to join the militants, whose popularity shot up.
One man told Human Rights Watch that he and other parents watched
helplessly as their sons enlisted with the militants: “Boys, as young as
fourteen or fifteen, crossed the border and came back with guns. No one
could stop them.”

“Gaw Kadal remains an emotional and sentimental subject for Kashmiris even today